Ways to get business/sales in a very narrow market

[Slippy]

I was hired a few months ago as a sort of general assistant by a small (1-man at that point) company that sells in a rather niche market. It's import and re-sell basically, but big-ticket items so we only need 1-2 sales a month but since I've been here we've had none.
He doesn't want to spend on advertising, and doesn't want to employ aggressive sales tactics... how do we get business in then? sales and marketing is definitely not my thing but it's getting desperate and I'll do whatever needs to be done...

[Blurock]

If its a niche market, you will have a limited customer base. Call on them on a regular basis. Find out what the competition is doing. Are they getting the sales that you are missing out on? Why?

Sales will not come to you. You have to find it and work on it every day. Only a chicken achieves anything by sitting on her arse....

[Dave A]

Have you researched the online search traffic using Google's keyword tool?

If you have trouble identifying the potential clients, at least you can make sure that potential clients can find you.

[Slippy]

I've checked and we're at least in the same price range as competition, but not sure how to check if they're getting sales we could've had.

re: google, he's adamant that he tried Adwords before and found it a waste and will not use it again... I'm not sure how to suggest that maybe he didn't use it 100% efficiently and that it might be worth trying again, properly he's kinda short of patience :/

[Dave A]

He doesn't want to spend on advertising

No-one wants to spend on advertising...

and doesn't want to employ aggressive sales tactics...

Yeah - we all want to be the nice guy

how do we get business in then?

Sorry - couldn't get the answer down to a flippant one-liner.

but it's getting desperate and I'll do whatever needs to be done...

Now we're getting somewhere!

re: google, he's adamant that he tried Adwords before and found it a waste and will not use it again... I'm not sure how to suggest that maybe he didn't use it 100% efficiently and that it might be worth trying again, properly he's kinda short of patience :/

Email the following link to him, then go for a stroll out of harms way until it's safe to return.
http://www.theforumsa.co.za/forums/s...-narrow-market

[Blurock]

This post was started on the 5th. Today is the 7th. No sales? So what have you been doing all the time? You can't just dream about sales.

There are better ways to dream and go bancrupt. Rather go to the movies....